TECHNICAL SURVEILLANCE COUNTER MEASURES

TSCM DEFINITION

Technical Surveillance Counter Measure is a confidential systematic electronic visual and physical examination of a designated area by trained and qualified persons utilizing appropriate equipment’s and tools in an effort to locate, neutralize and exploit surreptitious listening, video and data devices, security hazards and other ways in which classified, sensitive and proprietary information could be stolen or lost.

Why TSCM?

Corporate information gathering is a fact of life, even more so during hard and tough economic times. Many successful businesses are doing a good job to protect their own secrets and intellectual property. Many do nothing, maybe hoping for the best or perhaps believing that business is, after all, a "gentleman's" game … clean, fair, and fun? Unfortunately, no business is immune and many will go to extraordinary lengths to obtain information about their competitors. They can make use of legal/ethical, unethical or outright criminal methods to gather information.

The dangers of corporate intelligence gathering are often underestimated because many times there are no overt signs or indications of the attack. Regular headlines about industrial espionage, business intelligence and information theft indicate that the adequate protection of proprietary information has become a worldwide problem. If your company deals with sensitive information, information that has economic value, records or personal information or plainly has an aggressive competitor ... you could be a target. If you have no corporate information protection system or information security procedures in place then we can help to provide you with a defensive capability.

Many companies still employ outdated measures to protect their information that do not address the modern-day threats against business information.

Our Approach

We have Certified and Qualified TSCM Specialists who provide world class information protection awareness briefings, education and training to staff on all levels, assist with the creation and implementation of policies/procedures, appropriate defensive measures and services.

One of the defensive services that we offer, eavesdropping detection pre-surveys, to identify and locate hostile and illegal technical devices planted at your company for information collection purposes.

Major decisions are usually taken in boardrooms and executive offices.

Regular countermeasures surveys of these facilities, telephones, other communication apparatus and systems can prevent or limit technical intrusions by hostile entities.

Most vantage options for buggers include

OFFICES

Conference rooms and offices are prime targets for espionage and should therefore be first to receive attention during a TSCM sweep.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT

The number 2 source of trouble: work-spaces occupied by personal assistants, secretaries, operatives and managers.

COMMON AREAS

Washrooms and lifts, the coffee corner and other common areas must not be overlooked. Many sensitive conversations are conducted in such areas

ELECTRONICS

A qualified electro technician must inspect all connections, cables, lighting and electronic equipment.

TELEPHONE EXCHANGE

It is frighteningly quick and easy to convert a telephone system to illicitly collect information, and uncovering such skulduggery is a job for a specialist.

COMPUTERS

Computers are another type of equipment that is frequently exploited by eavesdroppers and, here again, the detection of such surreptitious activity is best left to an IT expert.

Conclusion

As James Schweitzer puts it in ‘Protecting Business Information’:

“If one waits until a threat is manifest through a successful attack, then significant damage can be done before an effective countermeasure can be developed and deployed. Therefore, countermeasures must be based on speculation. Effort may be expended in countering attacks that are never attempted. The need to speculate and to budget resources for countermeasures also implies a need to understand what it is that should be protected, and why; such understanding should drive the choice of a protection strategy and countermeasures. This thinking should be captured in security policies generated by management; poor security often reflects both weak policies and inadequate forethought.”